Contents

1. Criteria for a Medical Examination

On initiating a Section 47 investigation the social worker and team manager need to consider the need for a S47 medical. This needs to be discussed and agreed during the Strategy Discussion with the police and with the Community Paediatrician where appropriate. Where it is agreed that a medical is not needed, the reasons need to be clearly stated in the record of the Strategy Discussion along with the views of the other parties. It may be that prior to seeing the child it cannot be determined whether a medical is needed.

In order for the community paediatrician to fully engage in this discussion and understand the concerns, the following information is to be shared with the Child Abuse Investigation Unit (CAIU) and community paediatrician:

Background information;

Nature of concerns/injuries;

Nature of incident leading to the concerns;

The needs of other children living in the same household (developmental, health/medical, educational needs);

Pertinent needs of parents/carers (e.g. health);

Consent of parent/s or carers.

2. Required Documentation

The following documents when available are to be emailed to the community paediatrician (using the secure e-mail stated below):

A case summary (including background) where the above documents are not available.

There will be circumstances, particularly where the family have no previous history with the police or Children's Social Care, where there is no written information available to the social worker and therefore for the community paediatrician to consider.